Leeds close to reaching agreement to sign Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Michael Zetterer

Leeds United are close to reaching an agreement in principle with Eintracht Frankfurt for their goalkeeper Michael Zetterer.

The Premier League side have been in the market for an understudy for James Trafford since securing a club-record deal for the England international.

The German goalkeeper, 31, would be United’s back-up stopper if the two clubs can find an agreement. Sources at Elland Road, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, expect Frankfurt would need to secure a new goalkeeper of their own before sanctioning the German’s departure.

Zetterer’s arrival would also then allow Leeds to wave through an exit for Lucas Perri, who, one year after arriving from Lyon as first-choice, would otherwise spend much of next term on United’s bench. Perri has attracted interest from European clubs.

Frankfurt only signed Zetterer themselves on August 20 last year. In his one season with the Bundesliga side, he made 22 league appearances and kept six clean sheets. He also started five games in the Champions League.

As it stands, Trafford is backed up by Alex Cairns in the goalkeeping department at Leeds. Karl Darlow, who has now joined Manchester United, and Illan Meslier, who has now joined Premier League champions Arsenal, each departed as free agents this summer.

Zetterer, who has also played in the Netherlands, is also a former Germany youth international, having represented the nation’s under-20 and under-21 sides. He has not, however, ever represented Germany’s senior national team.

How would Zetterer fit in at Leeds?

Analysis by The Athletic’s German football correspondent Seb Stafford-Bloor

Zetterer is a stable, highly experienced goalkeeper.

He was signed by Eintracht Frankfurt a year ago as a deputy to Kaua Santos, a precocious young Brazilian goalkeeper with enormous talent. A succession of difficult moments saw Santos lose confidence, however, and Zetterer ultimately ended the season as first choice and a safe pair of hands.

Zetterer has overcome a lot in his career. Serious hand and wrist injuries early in his career at Werder Bremen cost him almost two years of football, but he recovered in the years since. The German was successful in grinding his way through various loan spells abroad, and eventually made his way back to the Bundesliga, where he became Werder Bremen’s first choice, proving his physical and emotional resilience.

Technically, he’s the typical modern goalkeeper: he’s not the tallest or the most physically imposing, but he’s good with his feet, quick off his line, and equipped with a fine set of reflexes.

Zetterer is often held up as a strong personality — as a very good goalkeeper, but also someone clubs like having in their dressing room, and no doubt that too is part of Leeds’ thinking